Final Thoughts on the Gigabyte X870 AORUS Elite WiFi7 Motherboard
This is the first X870 motherboard that we’ve had the chance to take a look at and I feel it has a good mix of features that pretty much all users are going to appreciate. For me there are a few things that really stand out. First is the fact that you do get three PCI-Express 5.0 M.2 slots. If you are going for a storage-heavy build you are really going to appreciate that! Now the only downside here is that if you do populate those bottom two Gen5 slots your graphics card will move down to x8 speeds, so something to keep in mind.
The next thing is connectivity. On the rear I/O you are going to find 12 USB ports! So for all of those peripherals Gigabyte has you covered! It is worth mentioning that two of these ports are USB 4.0 Type-C ports and do support alternate mode. You are also going to get internal headers as well including that front USB 3.2 gen 2×2 so if you have a new case that supports it you are good to go too! WiFi 7 is a nice addition as well and if you are a newer WiFi 7 router you can really take advantage of the speeds here.
Finally we come to ease of use. It is so good to see things like Gigabyte’s EZ-Latch Plus and EZ-Latch Click become almost standard these days. They make installing those M.2 drives so easy and the button to remove your graphics card means no trying to get your finger in-between your graphics card and top M.2 slot to release it. Now we even have the WiFi EZ-Plug which makes connecting the WiFi antenna a breeze.
If anything I would really like to see the Gigabyte control center be a bit better. It gets the job done, but for motherboard companion software it is a bit lacking.
While you may not get all of the features of a higher-end X870E motherboard you are going to be very satisfied with the X870 AORUS Elite WiFi7 and the money you save can go towards a better CPU, graphics card, or more storage! Talking about that you can pick up this board at our favorite online retailer for $289.99. Overall ThinkComputers gives it a 9 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– Solid overall design
– 8 total fan headers
– 12 USB ports on the rear I/O
– Ease of use features with EZ-Latch Plus and EZ-Latch Click
– Good performance
– Three Gen5 M.2 slots
Cons:
– Top x16 slot drops to x8 if you populate those two bottom Gen5 M.2 slots
– Software is a bit lacking
